Porterville Developmental Center

Program 1 serves individuals from all residential units at Porterville Developmental Center that become ill and require short‐term acute or critically ill services.

Program 7 serves individuals in a secure environment who require a highly structured treatment setting. Services are provided for both male and female individuals 18 years of age or older and whose functional level of intellectual disability ranges from moderate to borderline. These individuals have multiple maladaptive behaviors including sexual and/or other criminal offenses, assaults, self-abuse, property destruction, drug abuse and other socially undesirable and antisocial behaviors. The focus of treatment includes restoring individuals to competency based on their admittance to PDC under a Penal Code commitment of 1370.1 for competency training. Services provided include work/life skills, substance abuse training, coping skills, relaxation therapy, individual and group therapy, sex offender relapse training, court competency training, as well as specialized educational and vocational opportunities.

Program 8 provides services to individuals in a secure setting who may be dually diagnosed, requiring both behavioral and mental health services. The program focus is to alleviate challenging behaviors, increase independence in work, daily living, leisure/socialization skills, community integration, and to develop and/or improve communication skills in preparation for individuals to be successful in a less restrictive environment. The program provides services for modifying challenging behaviors by responding to the function or purpose that a particular behavior serves with positive approaches via reinforcement, replacement behavior, positive alternative behavior, functional equivalents, or other interventions as needed. Training is provided in self-care, communication, socialization, leisure, vocational and work-related skills, as well as educational services for students with special needs through compensatory education sites on campus. Individuals admitted are 18 years of age or older.

• Central Program Services: Day Treatment Services Central Program Services provides training to meet the individual’s identified needs. Services are provided through a variety of programs designed to increase their level of independence, functioning skills, ability to control their environment, and ability to live in community settings. Services provided include Education Services, Adult Habilitation Services, Employment Services, Court Competency Training, MOVE Program, Speech-Language Pathology Services, Audiology Services, Curriculum Services, Sign Language Interpreter Services, Assistive Technology, Leisure Services, Religious Services, Volunteer Services, two Resource Centers, two snack shops and the Foster Grandparent/Senior Companion program.

The objective of the Clinical Psychology Internship Program is to train generalist psychologists who can apply skills learned at PDC in a wide variety of clinical settings. This internship program is part of the California Psychology Internship Consortium (CPIC), which is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). CPIC has multiple internship sites of which PDC is one site. The internship can be individualized. Most interns select to focus on the forensic opportunities available at PDC. This includes assessment and evaluation, report preparation, interdisciplinary treatment team functions and group and individual psychotherapy.Stipend: Approximately $35,000 per year

Application Requirements:

• Complete Standard APPIC Application for the California Psychology Internship Consortium.
• 800 hours of practicum experience, 100 hours assessment experience and acquired practicum experience at two independent sites.

For more information, contact the Psychology Intern Training Director at:
P.O. Box 2000,
Porterville, California 93258-2000
Phone: 559-782-4047

See APPIC Directory for more information.

The Social Work Field Internship is committed to providing high quality training in social work. The agency provides rich clinical exposure and opportunities for students to gain experience in individual case work/counseling, group work, teaching independent living skills and case management.Through supervision and direct consumer contact, interns are offered comprehensive experience and quality social work training that instructs them in assessment, treatment, consultation, case management and consumer advocacy. The program accepts social work undergraduate and graduate interns.

Application Requirements:

• Referral from participating University
• Resume or curriculum vitae

Required Training:

• 40 hour training provided on site

For more information contact the Social Work Internship Coordinator at 559-782-4046

• Crisis Care Continuum Guidelines for SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

• April 1, 2016 – Plan For the Closure of Fairview Developmental Center and Porterville Developmental Center General Treatment Area(106 Pages)
  • Attachment 3 – Comments from Families, Consumers, Employees and Other Interested Parties (186 Pages)
  • April 1, 2016. Transmittal Letter to the Legislature and Other Interested Parties (1 Page)

Contact Information:

• If you have questions concerning the closure process, please send an e-mail message to: porterville.closure@dds.ca.gov.
• DDS contact information, specific to the closure of FDC, is available here.

• Porterville Settlement Agreement (12 Pages)
  • Attachment A (9 Pages)
  • Attachment B (8 Pages)
  • Attachment C (5 Pages)
• January 30, 2016 Public Hearing  (2 Pages)
  • Transcript of Public Hearing Testimony -January 30, 2016 (90 Pages)
• January 15, 2014 Program Involvement Plan (8 Pages)
  • Technical Addendum (16 Pages)

• January 11, 2017 Invitation to 2/12/17 Family & Conservator Information Session and Community Opportunity Fair (2 Pages)
  • AT&T Conference Transcript of 2/12 Family & Conservator Information Session (38 Pages)
  • Department of Developmental Services Regional Center Map (1 Page)
  • Developmental Center Closure Transition Definitions (1 Pages)
  • Who Are the Regional Projects, or RRDPs? (1 Page)
• July 29, 2016 Invitation to 8/21/16 Family & Conservator Information Session (1 Page)
  • PowerPoint Presentation from 8/21 Family & Conservator Information Session: “Community Living Options”(11 Pages)
  • Descriptions of Community Living Options (5 Pages)
  • Summary of Settlement Agreement with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (1 Page)
  • AT&T Conference Transcript of 8/21 Family & Conservator Information Session (70 Pages)
• May 20, 2016 Invitation to 6/21/16 Family & Conservator Information Session(1 Page)
  • PowerPoint Presentation from 6/21 Family & Conservator Information Session: “Oversight in the Community” (24 Pages)
  • AT&T Conference Transcript of 6/12 Family & Conservator Information Session(83 Pages)
• March
  21, 2016 Invitation to 4/24/16 Family & Conservator Information Session (1 Page)
  • AT&T Conference Transcript of 4/24 Family & Conservator Information Session(112 Pages)
• February
  10, 2016 Invitation to 2/27/16 Family & Conservator Information Session (1 Page)
  • AT&T Conference Transcript of 2/27 Family & Conservator Information Session (176 Pages)
• November 30, 2015 Letter to Interested Parties RE: DDS’ Intent to Submit a Closure Plan for FDC and PDC GTA by April 1, 2016 (2 Pages)

• DDS:
  • • Who are the Regional Projects, or RRDPs?
    • Descriptions of Community Living Options  (5 Pages)
    • Special Incident Reporting (SIR) Requirements – In the Community (1 Page)
    • Porterville Developmental Center (website)
  • A six-slide presentation for consumers to inform the closure plan for Fairview Developmental Center and the General Treatment Area of Porterville Developmental Center is available here. (6 Pages)
• Other:
  • Directory of Regional Centers (website)
  • Developmental Services and Developmental Centers Task Force Information on CHHS Website (website)
  • Developmental Center Closures: Transitioning Medi-Cal Eligible Beneficiaries to Managed Care (23 Page)